


Moonlight Ride

by Schemilix



Category: Final Fantasy IX
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-22
Updated: 2014-05-22
Packaged: 2018-01-26 02:50:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,467
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1671923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schemilix/pseuds/Schemilix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt: "Zidane/Garnet Exploration, playfulness, adventure--aspects of Garnet's personality that are shown early on in the game but are quickly overshadowed by more serious plot threads. Possibly expand on those themes with a fluffy date scenario? Perhaps Zidane attempts to cheer her up."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moonlight Ride

**Author's Note:**

  * For [beltsquid](https://archiveofourown.org/users/beltsquid/gifts).



> I also illustrated the fic as a mini-apology for being a bit late: https://31.media.tumblr.com/252ef6f3dbca17e66765adf325237fb5/tumblr_n5ywf9QBky1rdnwilo1_500.png

Where is the dark-eyed girl in red and white who asked to be kidnapped? Zidane looks for her often - in places such a girl might be found, climbing rocks, up to his knees in a river pawing about for round stones and crabs, climbing trees for the perfect apple not yet fallen. When he turns over his shoulder he does not see her, instead seeing a girl named Dagger shake her head slowly, and step away.  
Still, it isn't in Zidane's nature to give up the chase so easily. He is a man of beautiful things and, naturally, the most wonderful thing about the princess named Garnet was her smile. It must be difficult for her, so far from home. Cheering up girls like Ruby is simple; either his gifts, jokes and awkward compliments from a friend are effective, or ribbing him for his failure will do.  
For Dagger Zidane reserves his biggest smiles but can only manage to make her lips twitch, slightly, before she folds on herself like a wilting flower. Steiner's antics cannot cheer her; Freya's wise words cannot rouse her; Vivi's bumbling kindness cannot touch her. And Zidane, offering his hand to her - his heart to her, unknowingly - remains unseen.  
"Dagger," he says one evening, peck of gysahl greens in hand. She tries to smile to greet him, and waves, but both fall short of the mark. Zidane notices how she looks at the strange plant in his hand with curiosity, but daren't ask. "I found something the other day that might interest you - uh - not these things. These're just greens, but - they're relevant. Right? Will you come with me?"  
"Steiner would do much worse than pull your tail for that. He still does not trust you, Zidane," Dagger replies, quietly. "I wouldn't like for you to get in trouble on my account."  
At that Zidane only grins more broadly than before and crows, "Great! What use is an adventure if you're not sneaking off? Come on, while the mist is thin."  
With that he steps forward, extending his free hand to her with a beckoning gesture. He watches her eyes, the way they look to his hand, then aside, then to the unlit tent where Steiner sleeps, down to the floor again - and finally, they meet Zidane's own. Nodding firmly, somewhere between a stately princess and an earnest child, she slaps her hand into his and allows him to tug her upright.  
So he leads her, treating her both as a commoner and as a princess. They scramble over hills and escarpments in the darkness, cutting through crops of forest where he, with exaggerated chivalry, holds branches aside for Dagger as she passes. In the half light they often stumble and Zidane swears that, seeing her silhouette stagger several drunken-looking feet away before tumbling into the long grass, he hears her bell-chime laugh.  
In a field Zidane gently takes hold of Dagger's forearm to bring her to a halt. The earth here is strewn with odd marks and devoid of taller vegetation like shrubs or flowers. He creeps forward with the greens held out and stands there, flicking his tail back and forth, until the moonlight can be seen reflecting off a sharp and powerful beak.  
"Be careful - " Dagger begins to warn, but Zidane cuts her off with a finger over his lips and a wink.  
"He's a friend," he replies, in a stage whisper. Something huge and yellow stomps out from the treeline, feathers ruffling. Thump, thump, thump it goes on its two massive clawed feet and leans down with its massive axe of a beak until Dagger fears for the thief-actor's life.  
"Choco!" Zidane shouts as the bird rests its head on his shoulder, and wraps his arms around the bird's long and thick neck. "This is my friend, her name is Dagger. No, he's safe - he wouldn't harm anything. In fact, he'll scare monsters off so - you're safer over here than over there. C'mon."  
For a while Dagger watches them with her arms folded before she sighs and approaches. Up close she can see how large and intelligent the bird's eyes are, how soft his feathers look. He flaps his vestigial wings in greeting.  
Dagger asks, "Is he tame?"  
"No, he's wild. He's just smart. See, I made a friend with a moogle in this forest - Choco knows to trust me now. Don't you? See, he says yes."  
Without further ado Zidane takes a hold of the chocobo's feathers and hauls himself onto the bird's back, just behind his neck. From that height he leans a hand down and jerks his head backwards in a beckoning gesture.  
"You want me to get on his back?!" Dagger shouts and backs away very quickly with her arms in the air. "I mean - this was a very pleasant introduction - but - you can't seriously expect -"  
Rather than reply Zidane only frowns and flails his arm at her, like a child. The pair remain at that impasse for some time, with Choco scratching the ground and shuffling, until Dagger takes Zidane's hand once more with a stubborn air.  
"Fine! Or I'll never hear the end of it," she says. Zidane's grip is surprisingly strong when she uses him as a handhold to scramble in a most un-regal manner to sit behind the thief, making a quiet hooting sound as she settles. The bird had seemed quite tall looking up at him, but now he seems titanic. She realises belatedly that she is holding onto Zidane with all four of her limbs, tightly.  
"Easy there, I have ribs," he says, wheezing for effect. "Go on, Choco. Go where you feel like."  
Choco leaps forward the second Zidane finishes speaking, charging forward with a solid, thundering gait. His enthusiastic 'kuuu-weh!' call is almost drowned out by Dagger's drawn out shriek of terror. Zidane thinks he might be starting to lose feeling in his legs.  
Choco runs, carrying the youths effortlessly. His steady feet run safely even in the dark, while the light from the gibbous moon falls over the rocks and grasses around them. There is little to see with the veil of mist, but the rapid arrow-running shots of passing obstacles that pass by their field of vision are a sight in themselves, a dizzying one. When Zidane turns to check if Dagger has recovered from her fright he sees on her face a broad and genuine smile.  
"Well, would you look at that?" he says, making her smile wider and laugh.  
"I've never been on a chocobo before!" she shouts, daring to let go and grip only with her knees. The wind from their passage is cold and prickles with the chill wet mist, but to Dagger it is nothing short of an awakening. With another laugh she tugs the tie out of Zidane's hair before he can stop her. Her own hair is already thoroughly tangled in the wind, so he may as well join her.  
Choco leads them in a circle, guided gradually by Zidane back to the vicinity of their camp. Through the mist the orange glow resolves into a campfire and one lit tent, shining light on their cooking utensils, packs and makeshift log-stools. Freya's silhouette can be seen through the canvas of one of the tents, reading.  
"Here is good. Thanks, Choco," Zidane says as he dismounts from the bird and turns to help Dagger down.  
"Yes. Thank you," Dagger repeats, then watches fondly as the bird makes a chirruping noise and gallops away. She hands Zidane his ribbon back.  
As he takes it she says, "And thank you, Zidane. I - thank you."  
"Any time, Your Highness," Zidane says, sketching a bow. It fails when his long hair falls full in his face, like a scruffy brown-gold curtain. "Now get back in your tent before Steiner feeds me to a basilisk."  
Dagger does just that, with a spring in her step. Zidane can only hope this cheer lasts long enough to see her smile like that again. And if not - well - he'll just have to take her for another ride, or show her something else, and keep trying. Seeing her walk with her shoulders set again eases something in his chest that he didn't know was there. Just as Zidane makes his way back to his own tent and peels open the flap he sees Freya's lamp switch off, leaving the place in the light of the dying camp fire. Did she know? Was she making sure they returned safely?  
"I love you guys," Zidane mumbles as he kicks off his boots. To a wanderer like him, he has a dozen homes - his friends. Maybe one day he can share that with Vivi and Garnet, and Freya and Steiner too - even Quina! It's nice to belong anywhere, after all.


End file.
